Evolution of Chewing Gum

I know I have alluded to gum in past blogs, but it is a topic that drives me crazy. The type of gum you chew does not define how cool you are, so quit trying! (sorry for using "you" as an example there, hope we are still friends) For most of the last century Wrigley has really cornered the market on gum. And yes I know the history of DubbleBubble and Bazooka, that is all well and good, but, face it, the 25cent pack of Wrigley has been king of the chewing gum world.

You may not know this but Wrigley shot itself in the foot with it's own innovation. A lot changed between the years of 1994 and 1995, (like leather jackets becoming suddenly uncool) but the one small change that overhauled an entire industry was the release of Winterfresh gum. I know all about Big Red and Juicy Fruit, but no gum,to that point, had said "I'm totally awesome."

So, why did this move hurt Wrigley? For the first time the type of gum being chewed made a comment about a person's lifestyle. Before a person chewed Big Red because they liked cinnamon, they chewed spearmint or double mint depending on the type of mint they liked, or they chewed Juicy Fruit because they needed a taste that would move them. But, Winterfresh said I don't obey the status quo, I may go out and sky dive, or I may go alpine skiing in slow motion.

All this being said, this blog really only has one purpose "5" gum has flavors known as "Rain" and "Cobalt." Seriously? Am I chewing a piece of gum or is this a night club. Orbit and Stride, really? Part deux. The advances in chewing gum container engineering astound me. I think if chewing game with voice recognition and iris scan technology to open the pack and get to the gum it would be roughly equivalent to how over-the-top some packaging has become.

Conclusion: Chewing Gum - Bite me.